Charles Seymour Wright - Physicist(1887 - 1975) - Biographical
notes

Born in and educated in Toronto, Canada Wright won a scholarship
for postgraduate studies at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge,
England carrying out research on cosmic rays at the Cavendish
laboratory. While at Cambridge he met Douglas Mawson just returned
from Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition.

He applied to Scott for the Terra Nova expedition and was
was initially rejected so walked the 65 miles from Cambridge
to London to see Scott in person at which point he was accepted.
Sometimes known as "Silas" from his middle name.

In Antarctica, Wright carried out numerous experiments and
observations on the physics of ice and snow, gravity, the aurora
and magnetism, he also assisted in meteorology.

He was part of a four man team who mapped the western
mountains of Victoria Land and made geological observations
during an 11 week summer and autumn journey from January to
April 1911.

On the 1st of November 1911 he set off with the Southern
Party to the South Pole initially leading a pony called Chinaman,
like all of those present, he hoped to be one of those chosen
to go with Scott to the pole but was part of the first support
party sent back on the 22nd of December 1911 with around 300
miles to go.

In November 912, nearly a year later he was part of the search
party that went to look for traces of the Polar Party, it was
Wright himself who noticed "a small object projecting above
the surface", which turned out to be the tip of a tent, the
last camp of the Scott, Bowers and Wilson, just 11 miles from
supplies at One Ton Depot. "It was a great shock", when dug
out, the the tent was found to contain the bodies of the three
men who had died on the return journey from the pole.

On his return to England, he married the sister of fellow
Terra Nova expedition member Raymond Priestley. He served with
distinction in WW1 being awarded the Military Cross and the
Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1919 he joined the Admiralty
Research Department, rising to become Director of Scientific
research from 1934-36.

In the Second World War he was involved in the development
of radar and the detection of mines and torpedoes, he was knighted
for this work in 1946. He was made the first chief of the Royal
Naval Scientific Service on its formation in 1946, in 1951 he
became Director of the Marine Physical Laboratory of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography in the USA, returning to Canada
again on the Defence Research Board of Canada's Pacific Naval
Laboratory in 1955.

He visited Antarctica again in 1960-61 during the 50th anniversary
of Scott's expedition working at Byrd Station and elsewhere.
While in Antarctica he refused to talk about Scott's expedition,
even when refreshed with a few drinks. At the end of the season,
as a large crowd gathered to say goodbye, he was about to get
on the plane and someone asked how he liked Antarctica after
so many years. "Personally, I hate
the f - king place!" He then turned and disappeared into
the plane, he returned once more however in 1965. He retired
in 1969 at the age of 82.

Charles Seymour Wright by Ponting,
1912

References to Charles Wright
by Cherry-Garrard in "The Worst Journey in the World"

Simpson was obviously a first-class scientist, devoted
to his work, in which Wright gave him very
great and unselfish help, while at the same time doing much
of the ship's work.

Wright on Ice Problems, Radium, and
the Origin of Matter had highly technical subjects which
left many of us somewhat befogged.

Incidentally big icicles formed upon the ponies' noses
during the march and Chinaman used Wright's
windproof blouse as a handkerchief.

The man-hauling party consisted of Lieut. Evans and Lashly
who had lost their motors, and Atkinson and Wright
who had lost their ponies. They were really quite hungry
by now, and most of us pretty well looked forward to our
meals and kept a biscuit to eat in our bags if we could.
The pony meat therefore came as a relief.

Archer had been landed to take Clissold's place as cook;
another seaman, Williamson, was landed to take Forde's place,
and of our sledging companions he was the only fresh man.
Wright was probably the most fit after
him, and otherwise we had no one who, under ordinary circumstances,
would have been considered fit to go out sledging again
this season, especially at a time when the sun was just
leaving us for the winter. We were sledged out.

Wright now told Atkinson how much he
had been opposed to this journey all along: "he had come
on this trip fully believing that there was every possibility
of the party being lost, but had never demurred and never
offered a contrary opinion, and one cannot be thankful enough
to such men."They made up the Butter Point Depot, marked
it as well as they could in case Campbell should arrive
there, and left two weeks' provisions for him. They could
do no more.

Atkinson and his party got in about 7 p.m. after a long
pull all day in very bad weather. They are just in the state
of a party which has been out on a very cold spring journey:
clothes and sleeping-bags very wet, sweaters, pyjama coats
and so forth full of snow. Atkinson looks quite done up,
his cheeks are fallen in and his throat shows thin.
Wright is also a good deal done up, and
the whole party has evidently had little sleep. They have
had a difficult and dangerous trip, and it is a good thing
they are in, and they are fortunate to have had no mishaps,
for the sea-ice is constantly going out over there, and
when they were on it they never knew that they might not
find themselves cut off from the shore.

Nelson was to continue his marine biological work:
Wright was to be meteorologist as well
as chemist and physicist: Gran was in charge of stores,
and would help Wright in the meteorological
observations: ...

Gran lost himself for some time on the hill when taking
the 8 a.m. observations, and Wright had
difficulty in getting back from the magnetic cave. Men had
narrow escapes of losing themselves, though they were but
a few feet from the hut.

Wright wanted a lamp to heat a shed
which he was building out of cases and tarpaulins for certain
of his work. He brought a lamp (not a primus) into the hut,
and tried to make it work. He spent some time in the morning
on this, and after lunch Nelson joined him. The lamp was
fitted with an indicator to show the pressure obtained by
pumping. Nelson was pumping, kneeling at the end of the
table next the bulkhead which divided the officers' and
men's quarters: his head was level with the lamp, and the
indicator was not showing a high pressure. Wright
was standing close by. Suddenly the lamp burst, a rent three
inches long appearing in the join where the bottom of the
oil reservoir is fitted to the rest of the bowl. Twenty
places were alight immediately, clothing, bedding, papers
and patches of burning oil were all over the table and floor.
Luckily everybody was in the hut, for it was blowing a blizzard
and minus twenty outside. They were very quick, and every
outbreak was stopped.

Wright's sleeping-bag is bad, letting
in light through cracks in a good many places. But he makes
very little of it and does not seem to be cold - saying
it is good ventilation.

That scene can never leave my memory. We with the dogs
had seen Wright turn away from the course
by himself and the mule party swerve right-handed ahead
of us. He had seen what he thought was a cairn, and then
something looking black by its side. A vague kind of wonder
gradually gave way to a real alarm. We came up to them all
halted. Wright came across to us. 'It is
the tent.' I do not know how he knew. Just a waste of snow:
to our right the remains of one of last year's cairns, a
mere mound: and then three feet of bamboo sticking quite
alone out of the snow: and then another mound, of snow,
perhaps a trifle more pointed. We walked up to it. I do
not think we quite realized - not for very long - but some
one reached up to a projection of snow, and brushed it away.
The green flap of the ventilator of the tent appeared, and
we knew that the door was below.

Once more we have come along in thick, snowy weather.
If we had not men on ski to steer we could never keep much
of a course, but Wright is steering us
very straight, keeping a check on the course by watching
the man behind, and so far we have been picking up all the
cairns.

Our mules were of the best, and they were beautifully
trained and equipped by the Indian Government: yet on November
13, a fortnight from the start, Wright
records, "mules are a poor substitute for ponies. Not many
will see Hut Point again, I think. Doubt if any would have
got much farther than this if surfaces had been as bad this
year as last."

References to Charles Wright
by Scott in "Scott's Last Expedition"

Discussed with Wright the fact that
the hummocks on sea ice always yield fresh water. We agreed
that the brine must simply run down out of the ice. It will
be interesting to bring up a piece of sea ice and watch
this process.

We find quite a lot of sketching talent. Day, Taylor,
Debenham, and Wright all contribute to
the elaborate record of the bergs and ice features met with.

Wilson, Cherry-Garrard, Wright, Griffith
Taylor, Debenham, Crean, and Browning have been driving
ponies, a task at which I have assisted myself once or twice.

Simpson and Wright are worthy of all
admiration: they have been unceasingly active in getting
things to the fore and I think will be ready for routine
work much earlier than was anticipated.

Yesterday the last Corner Party started: Evans,
Wright, Crean, and Forde in one team; Bowers,
Oates, Cherry-Garrard, and Atkinson in the other. It was
very sporting of Wright to join in after only a day's rest.
He is evidently a splendid puller.

Wright, good-hearted, strong, keen,
striving to saturate his mind with the ice problems of this
wonderful region. He has taken the electrical work in hand
with all its modern interest of association with radio-activity.

In the evening Wright lectured on 'Ice
Problems.' He had a difficult subject and was nervous. He
is young and has never done original work; is only beginning
to see the importance of his task.

Wright has been swinging the pendulum
in his cavern. Prodigious trouble has been taken to keep
the time, and this object has been immensely helped by the
telephone communication between the cavern, the transit
instrument, and the interior of the hut. The timekeeper
is perfectly placed. Wright tells me that
his ice platform proves to be five times as solid as the
fixed piece of masonry used at Potsdam. The only difficulty
is the low temperature, which freezes his breath on the
glass window of the protecting dome. I feel sure these gravity
results are going to be very good.

One of the greatest successes is Wright.
He is very thorough and absolutely ready for anything. Like
Bowers he has taken to sledging like a duck to water, and
although he hasn't had such severe testing, I believe he
would stand it pretty nearly as well. Nothing ever seems
to worry him, and I can't imagine he ever complained of
anything in his life.

It appears that Atkinson says that Wright
is getting played out and Lashly is not so fit as he was
owing to the heavy pulling since the blizzard. I have not
felt satisfied about this party. The finish of the march
to-day showed clearly that something was wrong. They fell
a long way behind, had to take off ski, and took nearly
half an hour to come up a few hundred yards. True, the surface
was awful and growing worse every moment. It is a very serious
business if the men are going to crack up. As for myself,
I never felt fitter and my party can easily hold its own.
P.O. Evans, of course, is a tower of strength, but Oates
and Wilson are doing splendidly also.

I have just told off the people to return to-morrow night:
Atkinson, Wright, Cherry-Garrard, and Keohane.
All are disappointed - poor Wright rather
bitterly, I fear.

Feature Name: Mount WrightType: summit Latitude:
71°33,00'S Longitude: 169°10,00'E
Description: A peak over 1,800 m in the
N part of the Admiralty Mountains, Victoria Land. It rises between
Shipley Glacier and Crume Glacier, 8 mi SW of Birthday Point.
The feature was named by the British Antarctic Expedition (BrAE),
1910-13.

Feature Name: Wright BayType: bay Latitude: 66°34,00'S
Longitude: 093°37,00'E Description:
A small bay formed between the W side of Helen Glacier
Tongue and the mainland. Discovered by the Australasian Antarctic
Expedition (AAE) (1911-14) under Douglas Mawson.

Key:1 - first winter2 - second winter
iW - first western partyiiW - second western partyN - northern
party

D - depot laying for south pole journeyP - south pole party
C - winter journey to Cape CrozierS - search party for south Pole
partyPo - reached
South Pole

Biographical information- I am concentrating on the Polar experiences of the men
involved. Any further information or pictures visitors may have is gratefully
received. Please email
- Paul Ward, webmaster.